Blossom

Dou Zhao's tone was somewhat hurried, which made Chen Qushui doubt the source of her words.

Could it be that the Fifth Master had said something to the Fourth Miss?

But he immediately dismissed the thought.

How could Dou Shishu discuss court affairs with his underage niece?

He was puzzled.

Dou Zhao also realized her tone had been too urgent, making her words seem perfunctory, and sighed inwardly.

After all, she lacked confidence and solid footing!

She could only summarize briefly, "They say excessive wisdom borders on the supernatural... Sometimes overthinking isn't necessarily a good thing!"

Chen Qushui thought this made sense.

Otherwise, the Fourth Miss wouldn’t have felt the need to explain herself to him.

It seemed he had been overthinking.

Mentally mocking himself, Chen Qushui asked Dou Zhao about her future plans: "Regarding the Wang Family, do you have any further instructions?"

"Let’s set this aside for now," Dou Zhao felt that since the fire had already been lit, fanning it too vigorously might extinguish the flames. It would be better to let it burn slowly before adding more fuel—this way, the fire might grow even stronger. She continued, "Keep an eye on Zeng Yifen’s health. If we can keep Wang Xingyi in Shaanxi, that would be ideal."

While the Emperor’s will played a decisive role in who entered the cabinet, exceptional promotions were rare. As long as Wang Xingyi remained in the provinces, his chances of joining the cabinet would be slim, especially with many others watching covetously. If he still managed to enter the cabinet under these circumstances, it could only be attributed to sheer luck—divine will.

Chen Qushui asked, "Do you mean... we should contact the Fifth Master?"

"My fifth uncle must have already made plans regarding this," Dou Zhao said tactfully. "Even if we wanted to help, we lack the qualifications and capability. Our main focus should be gathering information so we aren’t caught off guard by any sudden changes."

"Understood." Chen Qushui smiled. "I’ll also find a way to have Fan Wenshu engage more with the main branch."

Dou Zhao nodded with a smile.

Chen Qushui made two trips to the Capital, each time returning with good news.

"First, someone accused Wang Xingyi of falsely claiming military merits, then another accused him of embezzling army funds," he said, sipping chilled mung bean soup in the Reception Hall, his voice tinged with satisfaction. "Although the Emperor withheld judgment on both accusations, he sent his trusted eunuch Peng Qian as the Shaanxi military commission supervisor, showing he still harbored doubts. Even Zeng Yifen’s recent proposal to promote Wang Xingyi to chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review was rejected by the Emperor."

It seemed Zeng Yifen ultimately favored Wang Xingyi the most.

Dou Zhao asked, "Has my fifth uncle taken any action?"

"His interactions with Zeng Yifen remain unchanged," Chen Qushui replied.

Dou Zhao murmured, "If we could have Ji Yong’s uncle Ji Song eliminated early, perhaps the Ji family would support my fifth uncle..."

Chen Qushui was taken aback.

There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.

He hadn’t expected the Fourth Miss to already grasp the threshold of officialdom!

But knowing was one thing—executing was another. Just like the advisers under high-ranking regional officials, no matter how brilliant their ideas, without the support of those officials, they were merely castles in the air.

He couldn’t help but remind Dou Zhao, "Fourth Miss, even if Zeng Yifen and Ye Shipei personally intervened, it might not be enough to force someone like Ji Zirong out early..."Ji Yong, courtesy name Zirong.

"I know!" Dou Zhao laughed. "I was just thinking aloud." Suddenly, she felt a bit like those idle gossips in the Capital who spent their days lounging in teahouses—full of talk but clueless when it came to action.

Time drifted leisurely into the eighth month. During this period, Dou Shiying had sent two letters inquiring about Dou Ming’s situation. Dou Zhao replied in detail: "She’s studying with Mr. Song, and her calligraphy has improved greatly... She practices the pipa for an hour every day... She visits the Eastern Mansion every few days to pay respects to Second Madam, who has taken quite a liking to her. During the Ghost Festival, Second Madam specifically instructed her to join them in offering incense at the Source of Dharma Temple... Shu Jie’er is engaged to a young man from the Wu family in Pingshan County. His ancestors once produced a Presented Scholar, and he’s three years older than Shu Jie’er. He studied at the Dou family school. Dou Ming embroidered a pair of twin lotus pillows as a gift for Shu Jie’er."

Dou Shiying was very pleased.

He instructed Dou Zhao, "If she misbehaves, don’t hesitate to discipline her. If she dares to talk back, tell her it’s on my orders."

No matter whose words they were, the resentment would ultimately fall on her.

Dou Zhao ignored Dou Shiying.

Ji Yong returned.

He presented Dou Zhao with a red lacquer box adorned with gold tracery—so heavy that Su Xin nearly dropped it when she took it.

Dou Ming, standing nearby, giggled. "Cousin Ji, what did you give my sister? It’s so heavy! Could it be gold or jewels? Sister, open it quickly and let’s see!"

Ji Shi shot Ji Yong a sharp glare, thinking that if he was going to give Dou Zhao a gift, it should be something obvious at first glance to avoid unnecessary gossip and wild speculation.

But Ji Yong just laughed heartily. "I’ve given your sister something wonderful. If Fifth Miss is curious, why not open it and see?"

From his tone, Dou Zhao knew it couldn’t be anything proper. She considered stopping Dou Ming but then thought better of it, given her sister’s willfulness, and let her open the box.

Inside lay a pair of iron balls, polished to a gleaming shine, each the size of a baby’s fist.

Everyone in the room froze.

Ji Yong chuckled, picking up the balls and rolling them deftly in his palm.

The sound they made was rhythmic, now high, now low, clear and melodious.

"Interesting, isn’t it?" He grinned at Dou Zhao. "Rolling them like this in your free time every day strengthens the body. Fourth Sister won’t need to pace around the courtyard anymore."

Was this something meant for a young lady?

Dou Zhao was speechless. Forcing a smile, she muttered, "Thank you," and motioned for Su Xin to put it away.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Ji Yong’s eyes, but he quickly regained his cheerful demeanor, showing Ji Shi a bolt of Shu embroidery he had brought back from Baoding. "...The blue-green weave is threaded with hints of bright red. When the weather turns colder in a few days, Aunt can make a cloak from it—it’ll look splendid."

Ji Shi accepted it with a pleased smile.

Next came a peachwood hairpin for Consort Cui, a jade-inlaid gold bracelet for Second Madam, a string of prayer beads for Da Taitai...

Dou Ming couldn’t help but blurt out, "Cousin Ji, where’s mine?"

Ji Yong pretended to think for a moment before smiling. "Ah, I did bring something back for Fifth Miss too." He turned to his page. "Fetch the velvet silk flowers from the ‘Plum Blossom’ trunk."

The page hurried off.

Dou Ming pouted. "Why do I only get velvet silk flowers? Cousin Ji, you’re so unfair!"

Ji Yong laughed. "These were the only things I brought back. If you’d like, you can swap with your sister?"Dou Ming thought of the iron balls and immediately said, "I'm not swapping them!"

Ji Yong sighed. "Then there's nothing to be done. I didn't know you disliked silk flowers. Next time I'll bring you something else." He looked quite helpless.

Dou Ming glanced at Ji Shi and said nothing more, sweetly thanking Ji Yong with a smile as she had her maid accept the silk flowers.

Dou Zhao noticed that although the flowers were made of velvet, they were crafted so vividly that they seemed real, with a butterfly perched atop them. Its delicate antennae trembled slightly, making it quite charming.

Dou Ming shot her sister a smug look and had Ji Hong help pin the silk flowers in her hair.

A few days later, when Dou Zhao and Dou Ming went to pay their respects to Second Madam, they noticed that all the senior maids and matrons of the Ji household were wearing velvet silk flowers in their hair—only the colors and the insects resting on them differed.

Dou Ming's face flushed and paled in turns. She grabbed a maid and sharply demanded, pointing at the silk flowers, "What are these?" Her shrill voice startled the maid, who hurriedly replied, "They're from Young Master Ji." Realizing her words might be inappropriate, she added nervously, "Young Master Ji bought many silk flowers in Baoding and gave them to everyone. I served him tea, so he gave me one. Even Caiyun from Second Madam's quarters got one for bringing him fruit..." Her face had turned ashen with fear.

Seeing Dou Ming's twisted expression of rage, Dou Zhao quickly dismissed the maid: "It's nothing. The Fifth Miss was just asking. You may go about your duties."

The maid fled as if escaping a tiger's jaws.

Dou Zhao warned Dou Ming in a low voice, "This is Second Madam's courtyard. If you don’t want to be put under house arrest, control your temper."

Dou Ming let out a cold "Hmph!" and took a while to calm down.

Dou Zhao confronted Ji Yong: "If you didn’t bring a gift for Dou Ming, fine, but did you have to humiliate her like this?"

Ji Yong retorted unabashedly, "I didn’t bring anything for her in the first place. She asked for a gift in front of my aunt, so I had to humor her. How is that my fault? Who asks for presents in front of others anyway?"

Dou Zhao was speechless.

"Alright, alright," Ji Yong said with a laugh. "For your sake, I won’t hold it against her. Is that good enough?" Then he added, "Fourth Sister, are those iron balls fun? I heard everyone passing through Baoding buys them as gifts..."

Dou Zhao called for Su Xin.

Su Xin smiled and took the iron balls from the scented sachet at her waist, spinning them effortlessly. The smooth motion produced a soft, melodic sound.

Ji Yong gave an awkward chuckle.

Dou Zhao turned and left in a huff.

From then on, Dou Ming bore a grudge against Ji Yong.

During the Mid-Autumn family banquet, the red lantern above Ji Yong’s table suddenly caught fire. While everyone panicked and scrambled away, Ji Yong remained seated calmly. Before the stewards or pages could rush over, he doused the flames with a cup of tea.

A few days later, one of Dou Ming’s pages went missing.

After searching half the day without success, someone found him that evening in the outhouse behind Western Dou—tied up securely, his face smeared with ink, a stinking sock stuffed in his mouth, and propped in a corner of the latrine pit, his head adorned with filth.

Dou Zhao’s face darkened as she demanded, "What exactly happened?"

Dou Ming stayed silent.Dou Zhao sneered coldly, "You don’t have to say anything. Next time, it might just be your turn..."

Before she could finish, Dou Ming shrieked, "I only had someone put a few laxative beans in his horse’s feed! How could he be so ruthless..."

Dou Zhao thought of those strong, glossy-coated steeds.

Was that really nothing?

Her voice turned grave. "Who told you it was fine to put laxative beans in horse feed?"

Dou Ming froze.

Dou Zhao’s gaze flashed like a blade’s edge.

Dou Ming stumbled back a few steps and muttered, "It... it was Brother Tan!"